Schering-Plough says goodbye via analyst call

If you follow the biopharma sector at all, then you’ll know one of the most noteworthy deals to be announced in recent months is the $41 billion deal where Merck will buy former rival Schering-Plough.

With the deal closing soon, Schering-Plough’s execs had to deliver one last earnings call with the analyst community which cover Schering-Plough stock.

Generally, these are very dry affairs full of corporate speak with many empty promises, excuses, and boasting (although, occasionally, if you have an interesting enough CEO like NVIDIA’s Jen-Hsun Huang, you get some very interesting commentary). But, this most recent analyst call had a bit of poignancy you don’t usually get in an analyst call, as covered by the Wall Street Journal Healthcare blog:

The earnings call’s invariable bleating about operational sales growth and foreign exchange impact came with notes of nostalgia… Analysts offered kind good byes and good lucks. Executives waxed about the company, and its pipeline of new drugs, that they had built. It will all go to Merck now, Chief Executive Fred Hassan said in closing.